South Korea’s Kospi (SEU) held onto to gains, adding 0.6% after record results from Samsung Electronics Co.
SSNLF, -4.49%

China extends olive branch on rare earths

(3:41)

Complaints to the World Trade Organization by the US, Japan and Europe over China's export controls of rare earths may be the reason China's now making concessions.

BOJ decision

Tokyo-listed shares first shot higher after the Bank of Japan said it would expand its asset-purchase program by 5 trillion yen ($61.88 billion), while keeping interest rates on hold as expected.

The Japanese yen weakened after the decision, with the dollar
USDJPY, -0.20%
jumping well above the ¥81 level, before fading back to ¥80.85. The greenback had traded at ¥80.94 in late North American trading Thursday.

“The fact that we moved up so aggressively right after this tells you the market wasn’t really anticipating it,” said Ben Collett, head of Japanese equities at Louis Capital Markets in Hong Kong.

Still, “Japan’s been in a deflationary cycle for 20 years. … Getting out of that psychologically as an investor and believing that Japan is going to turn it around is difficult to do, so the market has been skittish,” Collett said.

Earlier in the day, investors had sifted through a batch of Japanese data released just before the market open, including a weaker-than-expected rise in industrial production but a surprise jump in retail sales, ahead of the central bank decision. Read more on Japanese economic data.

Strategists at Barclays Capital said BOC Hong Kong remained their favorite local Hong Kong bank, though they added they were “still cautious on the outlook for the Hong Kong banking sector and believe the mild easing of system liquidity year-to-date is a temporary phenomenon.”

Foxconn International Holdings Ltd. (2038)
FXCNF, -0.88%
was a sharp underperformer, with shares plunging 15.8%, after it warned of wider losses next year.

China’s second-biggest brokerage by total assets, Haitong Securities Co. (6837) (600837), made its Hong Kong trading debut Friday, dropping 1.3% after having raised $1.68 billion in what is now the world’s biggest initial public offering of 2012 so far. Read more on Haitong Securities trading debut.

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